Love Isn't Easy
by Amy8
Summary: The NBK events spun around to my likings.....ENJOY! Chapters 8 and 9 now up (finally!)
1. Default Chapter

Love Isn't Easy Part 1  
by:Amy  
  
Author's Note: Thanks to Shelle for giving me ACCURATE info on the Met, I didn't feel like researching so she kindly helped me out. I know my writing style needs improvement so feedback - OF ANY KIND would be greatly appreciated. This part is my take on what should have happened at delloser. I personally would like to think that Josie was smart enough to figure out what "gonga cake" and vitamins "TH & C" meant.Also I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Carol who so kindly allowed me to use some of her characters and ideas. Read her story Sam's Awakening. It's fantastic  
dabuffbuff@hotmail.com  
  
Josie walked into Delloser Hall. She really didn't know what to think of it. She rarely came to places like this, only when Anita and Rhoda dragged her with them. She was kind of embarrassed already because she was here alone AND it was all being filmed. Suddenly she ran into Sam at the bar.  
"Josie!Josie. Out on a school night?" What was he thinking? God, he was nervous.   
"Oh!"  
"God that bathroom was disgusting!" Lara then attached herself to Sam like a clingy child. Josie on the other hand was taken aback by the presence of another female.  
"Josie, I'd like you to meet Lara."  
"His girlfriend."   
Shit. She just had to mention that didn't she.  
With this new piece of evidence Josie took a step back, separating herself from the two of them. Due to the fact that he was watching her so closely, none of this went by Sam. He wanted Josie to feel as comfortable as possible so he detached himself from Lara and took a step as well.  
  
"No offense, I know you love this Sam, I just hope you get it all out of your system before you move to New York. My firm has season tickets to the Met." Sam hung his head in shame. 'She's even trying to show off to my students, AND it's Josie. She must think so low of me, being with someone this terrible.' Then to his surprise his wonderful Josie managed to lighten the mood.  
  
"Oh. Well I love baseball!"   
  
Sam burst out laughing much due to pride that wonderful Josie managed to make everything around her better. Although Lara was not amused. She looked at Josie with disgust.  
"Nice to meet you." She said frigidly. She then walked past her, nose held high. Sam followed reluctantly flashing Josie an "I'm Sorry" smile.   
Once they were out of earshot, Lara turned to Sam and took on her bitchy tone.  
"That was one of your students?!?"  
Sam was totally shocked by her tone, what did Josie do that was so terrible?   
"Yes. Actually she's one of my star pupils. Why?"  
"Because she's an AIRHEAD!!!! Doesn't she know the difference between Met and Mets?"  
"Lara, she was making a joke. It was a really obvious one too. I thought it was funny."  
"Oh so now I'm stupid!?!?!?"  
"Oh my god Lara! I never said that."  
"We'll just see who's the stupid one."   
And with that she was on her way over to Josie who still hadn't settled on a location for herself.  
Sam now was starting to panic. What was Lara going to do to Josie? She was going to try and intimidate her. Once Lara got there, she put her hand on Josie's shoulder spinning her around. Josie was totally shocked and taken off guard.  
"So, Josie. You think you're so smart don't you? Making your little joke and everything. I'll bet you don't even know what the Met is."  
"Lara!!!!!!!!!!!"  
Josie just looked at her. She then switched her gaze over to Sam who was obviously embarrassed as hell. She then looked back at Lara who was still giving her the death stare. Josie then decided how to respond best.  
Tapping the side of her face with a finger for a moment as if pondering the answer. Then she answered blithely, as if reading it directly from a tour book: "The Met: short for The Metropolitan Opera House. Opened at the original site on Broadway on October 22, 1883. Moved to Lincoln Center in 1966." Then her voice changed to an airheaded tone, and continued, "The Met? No, I have no idea. What's that?" And with that she turned on her heel and marched off. Josie was quite pleased with herself that she managed to return the sarcastic tone while maintaining her dignity.....ESPECIALLY in front of Sam. Which meant more to her than showing Lara up.  
  
Meanwhile Lara was fuming. She marched off to the table. Sam just stared at her with complete disbelief at the impertinence in her actions. He was also feeling an ovewhelming amount of delight that Josie had handled it so magnificently. She never lost her cool. She left Lara so shocked that she was unable to return any comment. Josie definitely handled herself in that situation. Sam then went to the table where he wouldn't even look at Lara he was so ashamed of her. He was also ashamed at himself for not realizing sooner how callous she could get. He had noticed it before but the scenario was always different and he always wrote it off as the "lawyer side" to her seeping through.   
"Well!?!"  
"Well what?" He still wouldn't even look at her.  
"Aren't you going to say anything? She should be expelled!"  
"For what? Standing up for herself when someone she doesn't know tries to belittle her for absolutely no reason?!?!?" She had managed to really piss him off with that one.  
"Sam! I just wanted to show you that I am smart. That I was right, you know?" She could see that she had really pissed him off and she really wasn't in the mood to fight with him.  
"Lara! Never.NEVER in my entire life have I ever seen anyone be as horrible as you were to Josie just now. NEVER."  
"Sam, honey please don't be angry-"  
"You know what let's just leave because I am angry. I am ashamed because my favorite student now thinks that I associate with rude people like you and I am embarrassed for your sake because I'll bet Josie thinks really low of you right now."  
Now he in turn had pissed Lara off. But she, unlike Sam got vindictive when angry.  
"Alright. FIRST of all. I don't give a shit what some stupid 17 year old thinks of me. SECOND of all. So she's your favorite student, huh? Should I be worried? I saw the way you were looking at her Sam, you're disgusting!!!" And with that she marched out of the club.  
"Good riddance"He muttered to himself under his breath. He then decided he wasn't going to go home for awhile because he needed his distance from Lara. He was really starting to see things from a new perspective. He wanted to think long and hard about things before doing anything, He was sitting on the upper level and had a perfect view of the entire dance floor. He noticed that Guy and his group had managed to get tables right in front of the stage. He didn't really think twice about it until he saw Josie walk up and touch one of the chairs and say something to Kirsten. Kirsten got up and started yelling throwing her finger in Josie's face. Josie took a step backwards holding her hands in front of her in a defensive stance. Kirsten finally finished and then sat down. Josie put her head down and started to walk toward the bathroom. She paused first, looking up at the balcony not at anything in particular but Sam could see quite clearly that Josie was very upset but before he could think, she was lost into the bathroom. Sam was them out of his seat on his way to get to her. He just felt obligated tok do whatever he could to make her feel better. Sam made his way down the stairs and started to head to the bathroom. Luckily she was on her way out just as he was arriving.  
"Josie? Are.. are you okay?" He took her by surprise and she looked up suddenly.  
"Oh, Mr. Coulson. Sorry you surprised me, yeah, I'm fine."  
"It's just I saw Kirsten being her usual self to you and I don't know..um, she can be kind of harsh sometimes."  
"Don't worry, I'm fine, she just...she hurt my feelings is all." Sam's heart went out to her. He thought she sounded completely beaten. And with good reason too, first yelled at by some baffoon in a pantsuit and then by the popular crowd.   
"Do you wanna come sit with me?I have an empty seat at my table."  
'Oh great' Josie thought. 'This is just what I need, pity.'  
"No thanks. I think I'm just going to go home."  
"Are you sure? Because I would love it if you would sit with me." Sam pleaded. He really wanted to try and make up for the fact that from what he could see she was having a shitty evening. Josie felt that she couldn't handle much more that night so she decided to be frank with him  
"No, I have sat in on a date before, It was uncomfortable for everyone and it was a terrible evening,but I really do appreciate the offer." Sam felt totally depressed. He could see that Josie thought he was happy with Lara and was feeling totally low herself. He tried one last time in a desperate attempt to get her to stay.  
"Actually, I yelled at Lara for what she did to you and she stormed out."  
He watched Josie as her eyes lit up. "You did?"  
"Of course Josie, I'm so embarrassed that she would do that, it was totally uncalled for. I was so ashamed.But I was really happy that you managed to keep your cool like that. I know lots of people who would have totally lost it being talked to like that. You really showed Lara up which is a really hard thing to do. Anyways, I'm ah, I'm here alone right now."  
"Wow. I am really happy that you would stick up for me like that. And that you saw I was upset and came to check if I was okay. That shows that you really care about your students and I really respect you for that. Oh and don't feel ashamed. I know that you would never treat anyone that shabbily.Besides, I don't know what Lara meant anyways."  
Sam didn't know quite where she was going with this but he listened anyway."Oh yeah?"  
"Yeah." Josie responded "That bathroom wasn't disgusting at all."And at that they both broke into histerics. "Anyways, Thanks for the offer but I would much rather go home."   
Sam sensed the defeat and gave up."Well at least let me walk you to your car." Sam was beaming. Josie respected him. Respect from students was something teachers often wanted from their students but it somehow felt amazing coming from her.  
Meanwhile Josie couldn't quite figure out why he was trying so hard to help her but she just wrote it off as he felt guilty about Lara being so rude. They walked together to the parking lot. Sam was desperately searching for a conversation starter.   
"And Josie, don't worry about the popular kids. You don't need them."  
"I know, I have a whole group of friends from my neighbourhood who go to different schools."She lied.But then added a little truth to make herself feel better."It's just I was an outcast at my last school to and I just thought that having a fresh start at a new school, things could be different.You know?"   
Sam looked into her eyes totally reading the despair he could see in her eyes. She had beautiful eyes. Did she ever have beautiful eyes.   
"Well, I hope things work out for you Josie. I really do. And once again, I apologize for Lara's behaviour."  
"Thank you. That means a lot to me. Bye Mr. Coulson. " And with that she drove off. Sam took his keys out and drove home himself.  
  
Part 2 coming VERY soon, probably tomorrow.  
  



	2. Lara's History!

Love isn't Easy Part 2  
by: Amy  
  
Sam took the keys out of his pockets and unlocked his apartment door. Inside Lara was packing up her suitcase. Sam just put his stuff down on the table and walked to the doorway between the kitchen and livingroom.   
"Just in case you are wondering Sam Coulson, I am checking into a hotel untill my flight on Monday. Your behaviour was far too atrocious for me to handle."   
Sam was reeling now. How dare she? His behaviour?!? She really was a piece of work.  
"Wait a minute. MY behaviour. At the idea that you didn't get one joke someone you just met had made, you followed them and attacked their intelligence! MY BEHAVIOUR? You really are something else, Lara. Frankly I am really ashamed of you."  
"Oh boo-hoo Sam. I don't give a shit if you are ashamed of me. I'm ashamed that I wasted so much time on some nobody who would rather live in the past than take the leap and move to New York to be with his girlfriend of 5 years. 5 YEARS SAM!!! And we're living hundreds of miles apart.Your hanging on to this life which really is no life at all. And look around! You hang on to these hockey trophies for what? Your a sentimental loser who can't get his priorities straight. I'm going to go out there to get me a REAL MAN!!"   
Sam couldn't believe his ears. She had just insulted him directly to his face numerous times. But thinking about Josie and her reaction to being harrassed by Lara:  
  
"Fine then. It's agreed. You and me are through. Now get the hell out."   
  
And with that he headed to the kitchen to get something to eat. He settled on a can of sprite which he drank while standing in the doorway again. He looked at Lara who just stared at him in disbelief. She couldn't think of what to say.  
  
"Oh my god Sam. Are you dumping me because I hurt your precious student?"  
  
"No Lara, You attacking Josie was just the end of a long line of events that pissed me off." I let it go before because I figured I owed you that much but you crossed the line tonight. I've been thinking about it all night and I just can't figure out why in the world you felt the need to do it. Josie was nothing but nice to you for the brief amount of time you spent together. The second you showed off your firm's prestige and she made a joke out of it, you flipped your lid. This isn't the first time either, I've seen you do it before but because it was people you knew, I figured it was none of my business and I stayed out of it but now your expanding your territory and are harrassing my students."  
"Oh! I get it. You're in love with her! With that Josie girl! AREN'T YOU? Just admit it Sam."  
"No Lara, I am not in love with my student. But the problem is, I am not in love with you either."  
Lara was so insulted that she just got up and left. Sam could tell that he had hurt her feelings but he didn't care. He was having such a horrible evening and he just wanted it to end. He was happy that he had wrapped things up with Lara though. He was just afraid that she would assume that it was all said in the heat of the moment. He knew that he meant it though, so if she were to bring it up again, he would have to just stick to his guns. Sam went into his room and changed into his night shirt. He got his toothbrush out of his bathroom cabinet and looked at himself in the mirror. He knew what that the relief of having freed himself of Lara was completely transparent because even he could see it written all over his face. Then he went to bed.  
After a while he heard a faint knocking on his door and was surprised to have Lara back so soon. Sam got up and answered the door. To his surprise he found Josie standing in his doorway with an eerie amount of confidence. 'very unlike her' he thought. She walked into his apartment without saying anything. She went and sat on the couch just staring around. Sam was totally shocked. It was the middle of the night and Josie was in his apartment.   
"Uh...Hey Josie.....What's up?"  
"Well actually Mr. Coulson, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."  
"Now?"  
Sam was completely confused. She managed to find out where he lives and showed up on the middle of the night. Not being able to avoid it, he checked her out. She was wearing form-fitting blue jeans and a little black tanktop. He couldn't help but feel attracted to her even though he knew it was completely wrong. Josie then got up from the couch and stood directly in front of Sam.   
"You're checking me out. Aren't you?"  
"No no no. No I'm not Josie. I swear."  
"Don't worry Sam, you don't have to try and deny it."  
Oh my god. He called her by his first name. Sam started to take a step back to help him control himself in this irresistable situation.   
"Well-"He started.  
"So I was just wondering, did you work things out with your girlfriend?"  
"Actually, I broke up with her."  
She took a step closer "That's good......You wan't to kiss me don't you Sam."  
Sam closed his eyes to avoid looking at her beautiful face. He wondered if he was just having some wonderful hallucination. "Yes-" He managed to blurt out.  
"Well then why don't you Sam?"  
Oh my God.Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Oh my God. Was all he could think.  
"Because of our predicament Josie, your my student. I'm your teach-" She interrupted him by putting her finger to his lips.   
"Ssshhhh. Don't think like that. We aren't in the school halls, or your classroom. There are no teachers or other students here. It's just you and me. No one else."  
"That's true..."  
"Well than what are you waiting for?"  
"Absolutely nothing." And with that he swept her up in his arms and kissed her. Holding her as tight as possible. They kissed for quite some time just standing there in the livingroom. Eventually they broke apart and Sam kept his eyes closed, trying to fully register the events that had just occured. He then opened his eyes to find Lara's haggard face staring back at him menacingly. He jolted backwards-waking from the shock. Very upset that Josie had been nothing but a dream, a new revelation hit him. He was in deep trouble. He was attracted to a student. A STUDENT! A woman who was eight years younger than him. Panicking from what he had just revealed to himself to be true he decided to get up for awhile. He grabbed another Sprite and sat down in his favourite chair in front of the t.v. Sam had just turned on to a repeat of a golf tournament when the phone rang. He looked down at his watch to find that it was 4 in the morning. Who could be calling him now? As he walked over to the phone he prayed it wasn't Lara because he wasn't ready to talk to her yet. He answered the phone groggily.  
"Hello?"  
"Oh my god Sam I did it again didn't I? I am so sorry.What time is it exactly there?"  
"4 am."  
"Oh shit. You know what I'll do I'll buy a clock, keep it here by the phone and have it set to your time.That way I'll never give you these middle of the night phone calls anymore. "  
"Don't worry about it Mom, I was up anyways."  
Gail Coulson was concerned. "What is my eldest son doing up at 4 am, I taught you better than that Sam." She said jokingly.  
"First of all, I was in bed earlier but I had a great / horrible dream that I can't shake from my mind so I'm up now. Secondly, I broke up with Lara tonight."  
"Oh that's GREAT NEWS!! No offense, I just never liked her. What made you finally do it?"  
"Well we were at this club tonight and we ran into my new transfer student and we had a great conversation until Lara got back from the bathroom and ruined it all. She leeched on to my arm like a clingy well-a clingy girlfriend and then she announced how I was going to move to New York which I realize now, I never had any intention of doing. Anyways, she then had to brag, like she does to everyone about how her firm has season tickets to the Met and Josie made this wonderful joke! She went 'Well I love basball!' (Sam could hear his mother laughing on the line.) But then Lara attacked her saying things like 'I'll bet you don't even know what the Met is!' Luckily, Josie knew and totally showed her up-in an amazing way. I was so pissed off at Lara that I broke up with her."  
Gail could sense that there was more going on here than Sam was letting on. She decided to go with her gut instinct and ask:"So who's this Josie girl, she new?"  
"Yes, she's this wonderful new student from Scranton! She's so unbelievably intelligent! All the faculty staff love her and don't have enough good things to say."  
"What about you?"  
"Oh I love her too." The second he said the words. He put his hand to his mouth in disbelief at how easily the words came to him.  
"I knew it! From the second you told me that you were having this mini conversation of yours!"She was laughing because she loved to be right.  
"Oh god mom, I'm disgusting. I'm in love with a student. My student no less. Why? Why is this happening to me? I have never, ever been attracted to a student before. Never, And now look at me. I'm so embarrassed at how horrible I am."  
"Sam , oh honey. Don't worry, you're not disgusting. You're a great man and Josie would be lucky to have you. And the whole age thing, don't worry about it. 8 years is barely anything. I know lots of people with age differences much larger than that. You remember that girl Janice who used to live around the corner from us when you were growing up? Well I just found out that she just married a 46 year old man. That's a 21 year difference. So if she can marry a man 21 years older, you can certainly lust over a woman 8 years younger."  
"MOM!!!!!!!!!!"  
"Ha ha ha. You know I'm just playing with you honey, but I assume she is the reason you aren't sleeping?"  
"Well Yes but not for.....those...kinds of reasons." He said scrunching up his face in embarrassment. "I may be in my mid-20's but I still don't want to hear about it."  
"Alright.Alright, I'm sorry. No more sex jokes. but honestly Sam tell me about her. It'll be refreshing to hear about a real woman in your life instead of Lara who's gone now. Hooray for that."  
Sam was surprised that all the Lara bashing didn't really bother him. He still needed to sort out his feelings for that but he did know that they were through.  
"Okay, fair enough..... Her name is Josie Geller and she switched into my class a little over a month ago. She came into my senior lit class wearing an outfit that really made her stand out from the crowd. But anyways, I didn't really think twice about it you know? I was just like 'ok, another student.' But then, I was saying how As You Like It is a perfect example of a pastoral comedy and then I asked what it meant. One of my students said 'Oh yeah, that's what they do to milk!'"  
"Oh my god, Sam, you actually have people that stupid in your classes?"  
"They get worse actually but my point is Josie raised her hand and said a complete, accurate definition plus the origin of the word. I was totally blown away. She said things that even I didn't know. And then I totally embarrassed myself by asking 'Are you sure you're 17?'"  
"Oh Sam, you didn't..."  
"Oh I did. She seemed a little uncomfortable with the question though..."  
"Well of course she did Sam.. It was a peculiar question. Well what else?"  
"I talked to some of the other teachers and she's brilliant in all other subjects too. She's unbelievably nice too, which would be a nice change of pace from Lara. Oh god Mom, listen to me, I'm talking as if we have a future."  
"Don't give up hope, son. Either everything will work out and you'll be unbelievably happy or things won't work out and you'll bounce back WAIT!! Let me rephrase! You'll bounce forward. Never back. Never back to....her. No. You're too good for her."  
"Thanks Mom, I really appreciate this. I should probably go sleep now. It's verging on 4:30 now. I do have work tomorrow."  
"Alright Sam, happy dreams, not too happy okay?" She said laughing the whole time   
"MOM!!!!!!!We've been over this."  
"Ha ha ha ha ha. Goodnight hon.We're still on for my visit next week right?"  
"Absolutely.I'll see you then." click  
Sam felt much better about his situation after his conversation with his mom. She seemed to have that effect on him. It was probably the "mother touch". Sam went back to bed to what he was later grateful to be untroubled sleep.  
  
*****  
  
Josie went back to her apartment and felt good about herself. She had managed to stand up for herself perfectly. It was just strong enough to get Lara to back and weak enough so that she kept it dignified. At that point other memories from the evening came back to her.   
"I went there alone. I was there for 20 minutes. Got yelled at by 2 women. Never sat down anywhere. Got pitied by gorgeous Mr. Coulson and everyone at the Sun-Times staff saw it all. Josie then felt miserable. She knew that she had no experience with men but she decided she could get through life completely content on the condition that people accepted that she was content. The one thing she hated most in the world is pity. Giving it was pointless. People only pity when they are too ignorant to be helpful. Getting it had no purpose either. It just makes the person on the receiving end feel worse about their situation. Josie then went staight to bed falling asleep almost immediately.  
  
*****  
  
The next morning Josie woke up to panic realizing her alarm clock had failed to do it's duty and she was running far behind. She through on a new summer dress she had bought on the weekend that was black with yellow daisies on it. Surprisingly she managed to make it to school on time. Remembering what Gus had said about being friends with the popular people so as she passed them she said: "Hi Guy. Guys. Guy's guys."  
"Hi Loser!" "Loser!" "LOSER!!Ha ha ha!"  
Josie felt really uneasy and on edge now. Why were they tormenting her so much more now? As she walked down the hall everyone turned and laughed. At this point Josie ran down the halls to the bathroom. George in the van spotted the mishap much earlier than she did. Josie had accidentally fallen asleep on her hand where she had the stamp "Delloser" from the club the night before. The stamp had worn off onto her forehead where anyone could clearly read "Loser." Josie started to panic, took a paper towel and started rubbing it frantically. George didn't quite understand why she was reacting so heavily to a slight mishap. George wasn't quite prepared to see the vomit which Josie inevitably filmed a few seconds later. Josie then sat against the bathroom stall reminiscing about her own terrible high school experiences. She remembered how she totally loved Billy Prince who to her happy surprise asked her to prom. She remembered how the night of the prom he called her and told her to wait for him on her porch. She remembered seeing him drive up. She remembered being greeted by a few eggs that Billy and Cindy Grayhorn, his actual date, threw at her face and dress. She remembered crying harder than she had ever before and she remembered hiding from her mother who came outside to check what the commotion was. Josie then preceeded to run through the halls at full speed. Crying at the same time but unfortunatelym a she turned the corner to the front door,she ran into the office door which knocked her right out........................................   
A few seconds later she awoke to the sound of her brother's voice.  
"Josie?Josie! Are you okay?"  
"Rob?What are you doing here?"  
"I just registered.Check it out! Manufactured at the tiki post!" He flashed her his phony school i.d.  
"Can you do that?" Josie was totally confused. Why was Rob signing up for high school? He wasn't a reporter. And he graduated just as she did, many years ago.   
"I just did.Josie this is it. It's game time. I thought it was over but not yet. This is the 9th inning."  
"But your 23 years old!"  
"Yeah with the reading comprehension of a 15 year old. Anyways I'm popular and you wanna be popular. I can recognize a cry for help when I see one."  
"Hear one."  
"Whatever. You want me to help you or not?"   
"Yeah I guess."  
  
Next Installment Coming soon  



	3. The Ferris Wheel. I HAD to do something ...

Love isn't Easy Part 3  
by: Amy  
  
Josie sat in her apartment getting ready for Senior Nite at Navy Pier. She originally had absolutely no intention of going but unfortunately Gus had to hear about it and now it was a requirement. She threw on a red print dress with a shall and headed down to the pier. She only planned on staying for a half hour or so, just to satisfy Gus. She got there and looked around,noticing all the carnival rides and game booths. She really loved places like this. She remembered her parents taking her and Rob to places like this all the time. Remembering all the fun she used to have. Josie's mood lightened. She grinned from ear to ear entering the festivities.   
"Josie!"   
Josie turned to see Rob departing Guy and Jason's sides to run over to her. She then looked back at the boys who looked totally confused as to why "Robbie-Rob" was going over to talk to that loser.   
"Josie! I'm so glad you came." He genuinely was. He wanted her to be happy and he could see that this assignment was really taking its toll on her.  
"What changed your mind?"  
"Gus." Rob stopped talking then because he was well aware of her sister's boss' attitude to life.   
"Oh. You wanna walk around for a bit?"  
"No thanks Rob, I'm just gonna stay for a bit. Then I'm going to go home. Plus, those guys are waiting for you." Josie pointed at Guy and Jason hoping that her jealousy wasn't obvious.   
"Oh. Okay, Josie but if you change your mind, I'll be around."  
"Thanks, Rob. Call me later?"  
"You bet." Then they departed ways. Rob headed back to his new friends.  
"Rob?What were you doing?"  
"Oh I was just talking to my old friend Josie. Can you believe we ended up at the same school?"  
"Wait a minute."Jason started "You are friends with 'loser'?"  
"Oh you guys are so wrong. Josie is great. She's funny and nice and she's so fun to be with. You guys should start talking to her more often. Get to know her better. She's amazing."  
The two guys stared at each other considering what Rob had said. They both shrugged it off for the meantime deciding to concentrated on having a good evening. The guys walked away together looking for an appropriate booth to show off their skills at.   
Meanwhile, Josie had decided to ride the ferris wheel. She had always loved the calm ride. It was like driving, you never had to worry about anything. Josie walked up the stairs to the ride and handed the ticket to the carnie. She shifted into a comfortable position. Waiting for the ride to start but to her surprise she was interrupted.  
"Where's your partner?"  
"I don't have one."  
"LONELY RIDE IN BUCKET FIVE!! SINGLE!!"  
Sam heard this and turned to see who it was. He immediately started walking towards it without thinking about it when he saw that it was Josie.  
Josie, cringed in embarrassment.She wondered why every possible embarrassing thing ended up sooner or later happening to her.   
Tommy and Kirsten who were in the bucket before her missed none of this commotion.   
"Oh course it's 'loser' holding up the ride!"  
Sam immediately sped up his walk as he could see Josie turn a new shade of red.  
He handed the carnie the ticket. He noticed that Josie didn't even notice he was there.  
"This seat taken" he said trying to sound as calm and cool as possible. He watched as Josie's head shot up in surprise. She looked so stunning. Her dress was in a class of its own. He loved the fact that she didn't try and dress as openly as Kirsten or Kristen or as covered as Aldys and the rest of the denominators.  
"Thank you!.....thank you." She looked really happy which pleased Sam to the core.  
"Your welcome."  
The second the ride started moving, reality hit him instantly like a slap in the face.   
  
"Whoa!"  
  
He glanced over the edge then jerked back into the seat closing his eyes trying to make sure he didn't completely lose his cool. Josie, on the other hand watched him and tried to figure him out.  
"Are you scared?"  
"Well, the truth is, and I hope this doesn't undermine my position as an authority figure, but I'm a little afraid of heights." 'Oh my god, she's laughing at me.'  
"He he he, you're afraid of the ferris wheel.." She continued to quietly laugh. Like a normal man, he wanted to maintain his dignity by not seeming quite so sissy.  
"Actually it's the plunging head first into the crowd part that get's me."  
"Well, I bet you'd feel better if you had your Gordie Howe helmet on." Sam was a little taken aback. "Hey, you remember that story?"   
  
"I remember everything that you say....in your classroom"   
They sat in silence for a few seconds until they were rudely interrupted by Tommy in the bucket in front of them   
"If the bucket's a rockin' don't come ne-ne-ne knockin'. Yeah!!!"  
"Boys-"  
"Mr.Coulson rocks my world!!!"  
Mr. Coulson stared at Josie who was just staring at her knees. He thought that it was odd, when it came to popular people, Josie became unusually quiet. He could only guess that it was a sensitive issue or something. He had every intention of finding out what troubled her and trying his absolute best to make her feel better about it.  
"You know, I'd like to tell you that we all grow out of it. It's a lie. Some of us will always be rattling cages."  
"Why do you do that?"  
Sam was somewhat taken aback at her response. He expected her to remain quiet about it or take it more as a retorical statement.   
"I don't know. It's weird, you know. Like Lara, for example, she wanted me to move to New York but I kept putting it off, for 5 year actually, because I'm lazy and didn't want to deal with it."  
Josie listened to this perfectly but caught one thing.  
"Wait, she wanted? What, she doesn't want you to move anymore?" Laughing a little under her breath at the absurdity of the idea of someone not wanting Sam.  
Sam was pleasantly surprised to realize that Josie had yet to cease amazing him. She had listened to him so intently to pick up on such a minor detail.   
"Actually, we're not together anymore."  
"Oh......."Josie had to really fight to make sure her joy wasn't obvious.   
"Yeah, I broke up with her last night. What she did to you made me so angry. But it was just the last thing in a long line of things she's done that were completely out of line. Last night just pushed me over the edge.......   
...Actually, I shouldn't be talking about this stuff with you, I'm sorry."  
Josie looked at him completely mesmerized that he was decent and dignified about everything he did. He was so worried about being appropriate with everything he did.   
"Well, It's nice to have someone to talk to."  
Sam just stared at her. She was absolutely correct. He did enjoy talking to her. He enjoyed doing anything with her. So he took his turn to look at his knees.  
  
"Yeah, Same here."   
  
Josie was in heaven. Sam liked talking to her! A gorgeous guy actually took her seriously and wasn't calling her "Josie Grossie". Sam renewed his composure.  
  
"Well , all I can tell you is when your my age guys will be lined up around the block for you."   
  
Where had that come from? He didn't want it to be true. He wanted to be the only one in line for her. This thought scared him but at least now he was able to admit it to himself. When he would admit it to other people?Well that was another story. That comment caught Josie off guard. It didn't really follow suit as to what they were talking about. But all she could think was how wrong he was. She was his age (from what she could guess) and no guy wanted her.   
  
"You have to say that cause you're my teacher."  
  
"Actually, I shouldn't say that because I'm your teacher."  
  
"Oh." Josie said all the while smiling. Sam cringed silently to himself in embarrassment from what he had managed to say.   
While they were sitting there alone, Josie noticed that they weren't moving and hadn't been for quite some time. She glanced quickly over the side and saw that two carnies were arging and pointing at the machine. She immediately thought of Sam and his fear of heights. She then made a snap decision that she wasn't going to let Sam know about it. She thought that if she could get him to focus on listening to her he might not notice that they were stopped. Little did she know that the reason he hadn't noticed was because he had been fantasizing about Josie and marrying her. What it would be like to kiss her, like he had in that fantastic dream.  
  
"You know Mr. Coulson, I saw something kind of funny today."  
  
Sam was thrilled that Josie wanted to share an experience with him but the fact that she had addressed him so formally just served as a reminder of their predicament.  
  
"Oh yeah, what?"He said as he shifted his body more towards her so she would have his full attention.   
  
"Kirsten, Gibby and all of them were walking down the hall when they passed some people who are...(ahem) not their friends, if you get my drift-"  
  
"I do."  
  
"Anyways, one of the people they passed got kind of intimidated and dropped the books he was holding. Then, of course, the group had to make fun of them. Kirsten then said (switching into her best Kirsten impression) 'Yeah. I mean that guy is such a klutz-'Right then, she tripped on her shoes and flew across the hall and landed flat on her face. Everybody then laughed at her. I know it's terrible but I thought it was a nice piece of poetic justice."  
  
'It's working' Josie thought, she could see that Sam was giving her his undivided attention.   
  
"Don't feel terrible about that Josie. Those girls can be really cruel. Besides, I would have laughed at that too. I'm just sorry I missed it."  
  
"Yeah." Was all that Josie could say. She was too busy concentrating on the ride. It still wasn't moving and she couldn't think of what to say.  
  
"Well.......um.........Oh! I was just wondering Mr. Coulson, if you could explain exactly what you wanted for that essay that's due on Tuesday. I was sort of confused about what to do."  
  
Sam was really excited. This was his time to shine. After all, this were his gifts. Advice and literature.  
  
"Well actually Josie, I just wanted a piece that relates 'As You Like It' to you. It's really kind of a general assignment. You can relate yourself to one of the characters or you can write down your thoughts and feelings about one of the events in the book.Really what ever you want....just as long as it has you in it."Sam immediately caught his slip. "And As You like it."  
Josie listened to every word that he said, she wasn't worried anymore because the ride had started moving again.   
"Thank you for clearing that up for me. I pretty much understood, I just wanted a little clarification."  
  
Once they got to the bottom. They got up and started to leave when the carnie stopped them to explain.  
  
"I'm really sorry we had you guys stuck up at the top for so long we had a jam in the motor.But I hope you guys had fun!" He said apologetically. Josie just nodded knowingly while Sam head flipped up in shock.  
  
"What?!?!"   
  
Josie just said "Here, let's go, I'll explain." And with that, they left the ferris wheel and headed towards other parts of the fair.  
  
Josie turned to explain. "You see, Mr. Coulson, I noticed that the ride had stopped but we were at the very top and I wasn't about to tell you about it because that would be incredibly inconsiderate of me. But I didn't want you to notice on your own either because you'd be just as scared so I tried to distract you."  
  
"Distract me?"  
  
"Yeah, like the Kirsten story, it wasn't really all that funny. And when I asked you for the advice about the assignment, the truth is I've already written it. I understood perfectly what to do but my mind was drawing a blank on something that would grab your attention so...." Josie trailed off. "But what you said is going to help me when I review it. Which I plan on doing tomorrow." Meanwhile Sam was in complete shock. Josie had actually done something that considerate just for him. He then thought that if that was Lara, she wouldn't hesitate to tell him about it just to make him squirm, but then he thought that he would never ride a ferris wheel for Lara. Wow, Josie had gone to so much trouble so that his fear wouldn't get the best of him.   
  
After a little walking around the two parted ways and Sam went home. He sat in his favourite chair to think about what had happened that night.   
He rode a ferris wheel for Josie and he was trapped at a height that under normal circumstances would have made him so unbelievably nervous but this time, he didn't even notice. At this point Sam knew he was in trouble.  
  
What did you think?  
Comments at dabuffbuff@hotmail.com are welcome.  
Part 4 coming soon.  
  



	4. A Lunch Date

Love isn't easy part 4  
  
The next day Rob decided to put his mission into full gear. He started spreading a bunch of "Josie did this..." rumors in order to get her noticed. He told the guys that she dated the drummer of the band the Big Bad Voodoo Daddies because he had heard that they were their favorite band. he told the girls that Josie was very rich, because he knew that money was one of the most important things in their lives. From what Rob could tell, he was successfull. People were talking about Josie everywhere he went.   
Meanwhile, Josie was noticing that people were looking at her more and due to her nature, it made her wary and self-conscious. She was on her way to Mr. Coulson's class when he Rob called her over. She went to talk to him not taking her eyes off of Guy, Jason and Gibby.   
  
"Hey Rob, what's up?"  
  
"Nothin', we're just hangin'. You guys have English next right?"  
  
"Gibby, Josie and I do but this loser over here has gym." He said pointing to Jason. Jason responded in defence. "HEY!! You take gym too, besides I already had English today."  
  
"Who's your teacher?" Gibby asked curious  
  
"Mr. Garrifield. He's soooooo boring."   
  
Josie all the while was looking at Rob who kept egging her on to participate in the conversation.   
  
"Oh really? Too bad you don't have Mr. Coulson. He's a great teacher." Josie managed to say. Gibby and Guy were both looking at her and then Josie felt completely on edge. Was her love for Mr. Coulson really that transparent? Because if it was she knew she was in serious trouble.   
  
Guy who had always noticed Josie because of how much she stuck out in a crowd, noticed her tense facial expression and wrote it off as she was nervous to be talking to the likes of him. He decided to be gracious and relieve her uneasy feeling.  
  
"Yeah, Mr. Coulson's a really interesting teacher. I rarely get bored in that class. I'm not saying it doesn't happen, I'm just saying it's less frequent than with someone like Knox. Oh god how that class sucks." He then looked at Josie for a reaction and saw a touch of relief sweep across her face. He really couldn't quite figure out why popular people scared her so much. He didn't feel like thinking about it though so he pushed it out of his mind.   
  
Little did any of them know but Mr. Coulson had been looking for Josie all morning. When he saw that she was hanging out with that Rob guy she seemed to already know and the popular kids he was thrilled and terrified all at the same time. He knew that Josie wanted to be popular, although he didn't know why, and he was petrified that they were planning something horrible that he knew they were so capable of doing. Anyways, the 2-minute bell went off and the foursome split up to go to their classes. Even though she only said one thing, Josie was thrilled to have been included.   
  
******  
  
Once everyone was in English Sam focused on teaching, he had to keep staring at specific object around the room to keep his mind - and eyes - from drifting to Josie. Sam had his whole lesson plan worked out. So all he had to do was take each thing one at a time and he would get through the day just fine. Even when he tried his best, he looked at Josie many times. She was absolutely stunning, she was wearing jeans and a pink t-shirt and her hair was in a simple ponytail. 'She looks so natural' Sam thought. He then remembered how Lara required a whole hour every morning to beautify herself. Everytime he thought of Lara, he was overjoyed that she was gone.   
  
Meanwhile the class went alright, no disasters or open showings of his growing attraction to Josie. The bell rang and he was relieved that he didn't have to be so careful of how he acted.  
  
"Oh! By the way! How many students here are participating in the students vs. teachers game on Thursday?" About 6 kids raised their hands and he saw that the only two girls were Becky and Josie. He mentally kicked himself for asking that question because now he was going to wonder for the next two days on what kind of player she would be like. Would she be a beginner? Average? A natural or even an all around all-star athlete! He could tell that he was getting worked up so he decided to get the hell out of there.   
  
"Well, that's great! I'll see you guys then." He said giving his best sly smile. Josie now was anxious to play being grateful for another opportunity to spend time with Sam outside of his classroom. Sam rushed out of the classroom so fast that only a few students had gotten up to leave themselves. He was grateful that Mr. Garrison used his classroom during his free because he didn't feel like bothering with locking it. As Sam bolted out through the hallways, he saw Scott Romano.   
  
"Hey Sam, what's the rush?"  
  
"Oh, hey Scott, I'm feeling a little flustered so I'm gonna go get a coffee during my free, you wanna come?" He asked secretly hoping he wouldn't because Sam didn't want to explain the cause of his anxiety. "Gee, Sam. I wish I could but I've got a bunch of freshmen to teach now. Sorry."  
  
"Oh, hey, don't worry about it. I'll see you at lunch?"  
  
"Yeah man, we still on with Jon and Matt at the restaurant?" He asked just to verify the location of their meeting.  
  
"Yup, I'll see you then." And with that, he bolted for the doors, feeling the heat rise up in him.  
  
Sam got in his car and started to drive, not really knowing where he was going. He found himself heading for the mall with the restaurant where he was going to meet the guys for lunch. He figured he would kill some time in Starbucks, remembering he had missed his morning coffee. Maybe that was why he was so jittery? He wondered. He sat down with his Tall Cappuchino and started worrying. Sam's thoughts were immediately drawn to the fact that he had dug himself into a great big pile of shit and he didn't quite know how he was going to get out. A million questions dragged through his mind. How had he managed to fall in love with a student? Would he ever tell her? How would she react? Should he tell her? What could she possibly be feeling for him? Thinking that she most likely thought of him as nothing more than an English Literature teacher, his facial expression darkened at this realisation. And then another question hit him...hard. Could he live a life without her? Trying to rationalize his thoughts he figured that sure he could. He had done it for 25 years and he could do it again, but inevitably, his true feelings conquered. He had experienced a life with her, he did realize that it was a short time, but he knew that he couldn't go back.....not easily, that was for damn sure. Suddenly a pair of voices interrupted his thoughts:  
  
"Sam?" He looked up to find his friend Jon and his wife Joanna looking down at him.   
  
"Oh! Hey guys! Why aren't you at work?"  
  
"We could ask you the same question." Jon said in a joking manner.  
  
"Oh! Sorry, that was rude, of me. I have a spare period right now so I came here to clear my head. You guys just took long lunches?"  
  
Joanna took her turn. "Yeah, don't worry and I'll shave my head the day that Sam Coulson is rude to someone. I have to ask something. Are you okay Sam? You were looking at that coffee like it was poison." She said with a joking smile.  
  
Sam didn't quite know what to do now. Tell the truth? These were his best friends but what he had to say made him look horrible. He decided to go on the honest path, hoping that in the end, his friends would trust him.  
  
"If I tell you, will you promise not to hate me?"  
  
Jon and Joanna looked at each other skeptically, Sam was obviously very worried about something and he obviously felt that he had done something terrible.   
  
"Sam, we're not gonna hate, you. You're my best friend. We would never abandon you in your time of need which I can quite frankly see is now. So tell me, what'd you do?" Jon said with a devilish, joking smile.   
  
"I'm in love-"   
  
Joanna started laughing. "Ha ha ha ! Sam, why in god's name would we hate you for that?" She then removed her smile in a mockingly serious tone "It's not Lara is it? Because I jumped for joy when you dumped her sorry ass."  
  
Sam couldn't help smiling at his friend, the two of them really had a way of lifting someone's spirits. "No.... you didn't let me finish...but don't worry it's not Lara. I'm just as glad as you are that she's gone. I'm so ashamed that I stayed with her for so long. I was a coward for not ending it sooner."  
  
"That's good...........SO WHO ARE YOU IN LOVE WITH?" Joanna said barely able to contain her joy.  
  
Jon didn't fail to notice the terrified look on Sam's face as he started to respond  
  
"I'm in love..........with a student." Sam immediately hung his head in shame. He didn't want to look at them, afraid of what they must've thought of him. Jon and Joanna had now pulled up chairs and were looking at Sam who was obviously in emotional distress.   
  
"Sam, look at me." He slowly brought his eyes up to Jon who was determined to make him feel better. He couldn't believe that Sam would think that this thing would cause the termination of their friendship.  
  
"I want you to know that you don't have to feel bad about this. As long as you don't like....attack her or something than you have ABSOLUTELY NOTHING to stress about. I mean what is the age difference, about 8 years? She's 17? You are only 25. Anna Nicole Smith was only like late 20's and she married a 90 year old!" Jon was laughing now, in a vain attempt to lighten his mood. "But seriously Sam, you wouldn't think it was weird if a 30 year old woman hooked up with a 38 year old man would you?"  
  
"That's just the thing Jon! She's not 30, she's a teenager! A 17 year old." He made a small whimper and placed his face in his hands   
  
Joanna, put her hand on his shoulder and took her turn at trying to make him feel better.   
  
"Look Sam, I'll tell you the truth, when I was 15, I had the biggest crush on my physics teacher and he was in his mid-20's. EVERYONE sooner or later in their lives is attracted to someone with a significant age difference. And I'll tell you the truth. I would find it much more bizarre if you were in love with a 60 year old or something."   
  
Sam was feeling much better now. He was happy to find that neither of them were repulsed at his behaviour.   
  
"So Sam!" Joanna started smiling devilishly. She shifted her chair closer and said "Tell me about her."All the while smiling. She watched as a big smile washed over his dark face. He was thrilled at the opportunity to talk about Josie.  
  
"Well, her name is Josie Geller and she just switched to the school in March. She is brilliant! I can't even begin to tell you how smart she is. And she is so nice, I can't get enough of her. When I'm home alone, I'm thinking about her, when I'm out running errands, I'm thinking about her, when I'm watching t.v., I'm thinking about her, when I'm reading, I'm reminded of her and when I'm in class, I'm staring at her." Sam said sighing a huge sigh of relief he felt as if he would explode if he hadn't gotten that out.   
  
"Wow, that's big. I wouldn't suggest staring at her though, that can't be good for your job. But back to Josie. Have you spent any time with her?" Interjected Jon.  
  
"Yeah, the first time I saw her outside of school was at that Delloser Club." I was talking to her and then Lara came back. After about 2 more seconds of talking, Lara left and-"  
  
Jon suddenly interrupted "Oh! Is she the girl that Lara tried to threaten?"  
  
"Yeah! I was so amazed and proud of Josie the way she handled Lara. She totally put her in her place. Lara was FURIOUS! Anyways I broke up with Lara that night. The next night, I went to the Senior Nite at Navy Pier and I saw Josie sitting without a partner in the ferris wheel. The carnie was yelling around for someone to sit with her and she was BEET red. So I went and sat with her."  
  
"WAIT A MINUTE!!!! Wait a minute. Are you telling me that you-Sam Coulson master of the fear of heights rode a FERRIS WHEEL!?!?!?" Joanna said in total shock  
  
"I know, I can barely believe it myself." Sam didn't really know what else to say. He was ecstatic that his friends didn't abandon him at the drop of a hat.   
  
"Well, guys, I gotta go, I have a huge presentation in 20 minutes but let me just finish by saying Sam, don't you worry about a thing. I find it truly delightful that your fretting about it so much. That's the woman in me talking. And I know that she will find it delightful too." At that point Joanna had gotten up and gathered her things. "Oh! I'm coming to that teachers/students game thing on Thursday, I am NOT gonna pass up an opportunity to meet this goddess!" She said with a huge grin on her face. She had put her coat on and kissed Jon goodbye. She then waved bye to both of them and walked out of the coffee shop.   
  
"Well Sam. How much longer 'til Matt and Scott come?"  
  
"About 15 minutes." Sam said looking down at his watch.   
  
"Great....That'll give us just enough time to talk about what your gonna do." Sam looked at Jon curiously. Did Jon have a plan? But more realistically, did Jon have a plan that Sam would be able to handle? He certainly hoped so.   
  
"I think Sam, that you should just cool your heels for now, no matter what happens, love or no love, your number one priority is to yourself. That means, your job should play a major role in this. And by that I just mean, don't try anything. Don't tell her anything, at least not yet. The school year is over in about a month. And then you can get down on your knees and kiss her feet, it won't matter, if she rejects you, you'll never see her again, if she says yes, then you don't have to like sneak around or anything creepy like that."  
  
"Wow. That's excellent advice. Thanks Jon. I really don't know what I would do without you, I'd probably be this mess under the table by now if it weren't for you and Jo. But don't think that of me. I would NEVER sneak around with her. With anyone. I have no respect for cheaters and liars." Sam looked at his watch. "We should probably head over to the restaurant now." The two guys got up and headed to meet their other friends.   
  
***  
  
Josie on the other hand wasn't as lucky as Sam. She had biology instead of a free period. She got up and started walking out of the classroom alone when she inadvertently ended up beside the cool group. She wondered why they bothered to walk out together because they were only together for a minute, maybe a minute and a half. She still felt very uneasy so she remained silent. Kirsten broke the brief silence.   
  
"I hate day twos. It's the only day when we don't have Mr.C's class last period of the day. I HATE when we have to do MORE learning after him, he fills each class with too much info."  
  
Gibby interjected:" Yeah I totally know what you mean. It's too much knowledge first thing in the morning."   
Josie listened but was mostly concentrating on the fact that she was walking with the cool crowd and they weren't sending her away. On the other hand, they weren't really talking to her but hey, something was better than nothing right? Once they reached the halls, they all went their own ways. Josie didn't really feel like taking biology again. She hated it when she was a teenager and she could honestly admit that not much had changed. She was mostly anxious because she was meeting Anita, Sheila and Rhoda at that Italian restaurant in the mall. As she was walking down the halls, daydreaming, she was quickly jerked back into reality when Mr.Coulson passed her at a furious rate not paying any attention to her or anything for that matter. She could see that he looked completely flustered and she couldn't help but wonder why.   
  
After Bio, she grabbed her jacket and headed for the mall. She walked into the restaurant and asked the hostess where her friends were sitting. The hostess directed her to their table and she walked over to the table. She quietly laughed at the realization that they had managed to take the table in the very back yet again. Meanwhile, Sam didn't fail to notice her entrance, short pause at the hostess podium and her poised walk over to a table. The four guys, Matt, Jon, Scott and Sam were having an interesting discussion when Matt couldn't help but notice Sam's lack of attention. "Hey, yo Sam! whatcha starin' at?" They all stopped to look in that direction while Sam was turning a new shade of red at having been caught staring at Josie. Scott was the first to speak.  
  
"Hey! That's that new student! Josie something-or-other. Isn't she in one of your classes Sam?"  
  
"Uh......um, yeah, my senior lit class."   
Jon was dying to say something. He loved the expression on Sam's face and he wanted to take it to his full advantage. "Oh so that's Josie Geller? I've heard such wonderful things about her." He said all the while looking at Sam who turned to him with a 'what the hell are you doing?' expression. Luckily neither Scott not Matt picked up on any of that exchange but Scott decided to respond to Jon.   
  
"Yeah. Everyone at school says she's brilliant. Ms. Crowe was telling me that she is a genius at calculus and Marilyn was saying she knows all this geographical history and Sam here was saying that she's a brilliant writer. Weren't you Sam?"  
  
"Yeah, she is brilliant." Sam said dreamily but pulled himself out of the trance.   
  
"Well, whoever she is, SHE'S HOT!" Matt finally said. But all three heads turned to him in complete shock. "What?Why are you staring at me like that? She is hot. You can't sit there and tell me you don't think so." He said matter-of-factly. Scott and Jon were staring at him in shock meanwhile Sam was staring in pure jealousy. Matt continued to speak. "Where's she goin' Is she eating alone because I may have to ditch you guys for her. Oh god look at that body!" Sam could barely contain himself. The very idea that someone HIS age would consider hitting on her without a second thought and that he had been torturing himself about for weeks just made him feel confused. The fact that Matt was considering hitting on Josie just made him jealous and angry. Suddenly Scott broke in. "Matt, she looks to be eating over there with those women. Besides I wouldn't hit on her if I were you. She doesn't seem to be one of those women who engage in casual.........relations." He said with a look that showed exactly what he meant.  
  
"Hmmm......well maybe I'll be lucky enough to see her again when she's alone - then I will talk to her." Matt said determined. Sam felt such a need to stop him. The idea of anyone being with Josie other than him was making him sick. He was about to interrupt Matt's lusty stare when Jon got there first.   
  
"Well back on to adult conversations, Scott, weren't you telling me last week about some date on the weekend? You seemed really excited about it. How did it go?"   
  
The four guys then took their attention off of the beautiful teenager in the other booth and focused on their own lives. Josie on the other hand was completely unaware of Sam's presence and didn't notice him until the end of the hour when the four women got up to go back to their jobs. The four men got up a split second before Josie passed their booth. It ended up that Josie ended up walking out of the restaurant right behind him. Anita noticed her friend staring and whispered to her :"Say something!" Josie resisted but Anita did not prevail. "No! This is a golden opportunity.Your talking to him. Rhoda, Sheila and I are going back to the office. We'll see you later.....Talk." She finished pointing at Sam. Then the 3 women walked off. Josie mustered up the nerve to speak.  
  
"Hi Mr. Coulson." She said barely audible. Sam immediately turned around and his level of tranquility dropped instantly. He became really nervous and without trying to stop it, a smile swept across his face.   
  
"Josie! Oh Hi! Were you here alone?" He said, knowing the answer but not knowing what else to discuss. Meanwhile, Jon, Matt and Scott had turned, seen Josie and then talked amongst themselves although Matt kept glancing over at Josie.   
  
"Oh no, I was here with some friends from my neighbourhood." She said pointing at her departing friends.   
  
"Oh. Are you going to be at the seminar today?" Sam asked secretly hoping that she wouldn't because he didn't know if he would be able to handle being in the same room as Josie while that topic was being discussed.  
  
"Yes. I am. You're not teaching it are you?" She asked skeptically.  
  
Sam laughed quietly and started to say "No I-" But then Matt interrupted him.  
  
"Oh! Hi you must be Josie Geller! Sam has mentioned you but he never said that you were this gorgeous!" This had Sam seething. He didn't want Josie thinking that he didn't think she was gorgeous because the truth was that he couldn't think of another woman who was more beautiful. Because of his sudden anger towards Matt, he didn't notice Josie's reaction to the sudden turn of events. She, in turn became flustered and didn't know how to react. This was the first time any man had ever flat out complimented her like that. She started to shift uneasily and said "Uh..thanks." When she spoke, Sam noticed that she seemed totally taken aback which surprised him But at the same time he was ecstatic because he realized that Josie didn't know that she was beautiful. Unlike Lara, who walked around thinking that she was the prettiest person around and now Sam realized how wrong she was. He felt better about himself for being able to see people more for their insides than outsides. Yes, Lara was a very pretty woman, but because of her deceptive nature he didn't find her attractive at all. Josie though, was a gorgeous woman, who was also very kind, and extremely intelligent. He felt his mood lighten just thinking about her. Sam's thoughts then turned to Josie's behaviour. Over the past few weeks, he developed the impression that Josie's self-esteem was extremely low. He couldn't help but wonder why. She was an amazing person and he just assumed that people would notice this. It was a naive thought which he now realized. Just like Sam, Matt wondered why Josie was acting like that too. He tried to get something else out of her. "My name is Matt Riley. I'm friends with Sam here and Mr. Romano? Do you have him as a teacher?" Josie regained a little composure and said " No, he's the guys gym teacher. Mine is Mrs. Schuster."  
  
"Oh. I don't think I know her."  
"Oh well, that's okay. You don't work there. You can't know everybody. Well, thanks but I'm gonna be late so I'd better go."Josie said trying to get herself out of the awkward situation she found herself in. She didn't fail to notice that here she was talking to two men her age. One that she was in love with and the other that was calling her beautiful. Sam finally managed to pull himself out of his daydream and said "Well, bye Josie, I'll see you later at the seminar."  
"Okay, Bye Mr. Coulson, bye Matt Riley." She said smiling and then walked away. She had to hand it to Anita. Her vast experience with men actually paid off because she was right. Josie did feel better about herself even if she only talked to Sam for a few minutes. She headed out to her car feeling happy about the way her life was going. She finally had the job she wanted. She was finally coming out of her protective shell and enjoying interaction with new exciting people. A man she didn't know called her gorgeous! This was definitely a new place in her life that she didn't expect to ever see 6 months ago.Yes...things were definitely looking better....   
  
  



	5. The Seminar and Sam's mother

Love isn't Easy Part 5  
  
Josie walked into the biology classroom where they were holding the seminar. They chose this classroom because it was big enough to hold the junior English class as well as the senior. They combined the classes so that the speaker would only have to present once. Josie chose a seat in the front row on the left next to Tracie. She knew that Tracie had developed a growing interest in Rob and Josie wanted to make sure that Tracie didn't do something she would later regret. Josie wasn't afraid of what might happen because she knew Rob was smart enough to stop if things went too far. All she was doing was trying to ensure that Tracie didn't make a fool of herself.   
  
About 2 seconds before the bell rang, Guy, Rob and the rest of the group walked in. Rob felt exhausted from being such a spokesman for Josie all day but he reminded himself that that was his main reason for enrolling back in high school. It wasn't the only reason but it was the most important one. After all, Josie's job was on the line. A few seconds after Rob, Mr. Coulson came into the classroom.   
  
"Alright guys, I know this isn't English, but still very important. We'll get started once..the speaker gets here-" He said looking towards the door nervously. The fact that he might end up having to teach this was scaring him to death. No way would he teach sex to a room which contained Josie in it. He decided that he had nothing else to say and retreated to behind the counter. He glanced around the room and then snuck a peak at Josie who unfortunately was sitting in the front row. This was going to provide quite the distraction for him. He looked at her and thankfully she was busy involved in a conversation with Tracie. Sam watched as Josie remained calm and collected while Tracie bounced around like a bubbly teenager. This was another thing about Josie that Sam really liked. She was incredibly mature...and beautiful. Damn! This was going to be the longest month of his life. Spending 5 days a week with Josie and not being able to tell her the truth. Having to maintain the respectable distance from her was proving to be quite the task. Suddenly Tracie said something that made Josie laugh and Sam felt as if he was falling further under her spell. Her body shook from the power of the laughter and she then flipped her head causing her hair to flip around. At that point Sam decided that he had better gain a sudden interest in his feet or he would be in big trouble. Unfortunately, Sam was losing his self-control and he found himself to be staring at Josie again within a matter of seconds. To his surprise, she wasn't laughing anymore, or talking to Tracie for that matter. Tracie was writing in a notebook and Josie looked to be gesturing to someone at the door. Sam looked over to the door and almost ran over to greet who he assumed to be Pam Kitterman.   
  
"Hi."  
"Oh! Hi!"  
"You're here for the sex talk?"  
"Well, I like a man who gets right to the point."  
What? Was this woman coming onto him in front of all the students? All Sam knew was that this was not what he wanted right now so he in turn got to the point.   
"Are you Pam?"  
"If you say so"  
"Alright.....Juniors, Seniors, this is Pam Kitterman she's going to lead us in the sex discussion."  
"What? No, no I'm not, oh.. Ok. Sex. Sex, what can you say really? You like a guy, you do it with him, sometimes he calls, sometimes he doesn't. He he he he."   
  
What the hell was that? This is not proper instruction. Sam was starting to think that he could do a better job......No, that was pushing it. Sam was feeling weary and went to shut the door. This was going to be a long period.   
  
A little while later, after some very interesting tutorial and an unfortunate incident with Josie, the class was interrupted by Sidney Anakowski over the P.A. system.   
  
"Hey kids,. Sidney here, bad news about the prom. East Glen East is gonna do Millenium too!" At that second, the entire class jumped out of their seats in a mad fury. Even though it was tradition, the whole prom thing seemed a little extreme to Sam. Maybe it was because his own Prom wasn't all that great.   
  
"All right guys! Calm down!" He tried to reason but to no avail. "SIT!!" Aaaaah, force always worked. "Ok, All we need is a new idea." Then Pam interjected " Oooh! How about under the sea?" Unfortunately she was shot down. He decided to try for himself. "H-How about the 80s?" Damn. Also shot down. At that moment, Guy Perkins, stood up and the shushed the class. Sam hated how Guy was so confident about his power over the senior class.   
  
"Alright! Alright.....Josie." He said pointing slightly in her direction.   
  
"That's not a theme!"   
  
"Thank You." Guy said looking at Sara skeptically, "No! Josie - will have the answer." Guy thought he was being so generous by giving Josie an opportunity to show her worthiness of being a part of the group. Meanwhile Josie was extremely happy to have been chosen but terrified as well at the thought that she wouldn't be able to come up with something. She looked around the room at a furious rate and then looked at Tracie remembering their conversation from earlier.   
  
"How about meant for each other, famous couples throughout history?" Everyone's heads turned to Guy for some sense of approval.  
  
"Absolutely, absolutely!" Then, the whole class started to clap. Josie was overjoyed by this sense of belonging and importance. She looked around the room at everyone and then she glanced over her shoulder at Sam who was also clapping. Things were going great.   
  
At the end of the school day, Josie stopped by the office to talk to Gus. Josie found it to be rather peculiar that Gus had asked to see her considering her assignment wasn't due for awhile. As it turned out, Gus had just wanted to go over the assignment and he was unusually nice to her she noticed. Gus suggested some ideas for her, he didn't demand them or insist on anything. As Josie walked out of the office she felt unbelievably happy with the turn of events over the past little while. Josie had a full make-over of herself, courtesy of Anita and Rhoda so that she would feel better about her appearance, especially for her assignment. Secondly, she got to be a reporter! Her dream was finally coming true! Lastly, she was being treated better at her work environment AND a handsome man flat-out gave her a compliment! It did occur to her that he probably didn't think twice about it but it meant so much to her. It would have meant so much more to her if it had come from Mr. Coulson but that was asking too much. Even Matt had said that Mr. Coulson had said nice things about her writing but NEVER about her appearance. Plus, he had that beautiful lawyer girlfriend. But wait? Didn't he say that they were broken up? No....she wouldn't push her luck, the truth was that handsome men like that don't stay single very long. He'll probably be taken the next time it comes up. It was a terrible thought but Josie knew that it was necessary if she was going to continue through her life without him.  
  
Meanwhile Sam went home walking in the clouds. Josie had been the object of everyone's attention as she wowed them with the brilliance he knew she had all along. On the other hand, why had Guy singled her out like that? Was he interested in her? As the jealousy built up in Sam's throat, he could tell that he would go insane on that thought train. He quickly stopped in at his apartment and then went off to the airport to pick up his mom.   
  
"Sam! Honey! It's so nice to see you! How was your work day? We have SO much to talk about? Let's go get my bags first. Oh! I have the funniest story for you! Guess what happended to your sister. Where do you go get bags?" Sam was laughing to himself under his breath. His mother never ceased to amaze him with her ability to ramble on and on and on. She just loved to talk which was one of the many things that made her so fun to be with.   
  
"What are you laughing at?....Oh yes, I know I can ramble but you know that about me. I want to go talk! But first we need my bags and a form of transportation. Did you bring your car or did you come by cab?"  
  
"I came with my car and the luggage pick-up is over there" Sam said pointing in the right direction. It suddenly occurred to him that he knew this airport really well. The reason being that he spent so much time here waiting for Lara to doddle off the plane. She never made any attempt to be on time for him. Recently, Sam found himself shudder everytime he thought of her. He was gaining some perspective on the way she treated him for so much time. Josie, alway treated him with nothing but kindness and they shared a mutual respect. Meanwhile, Gail was staring at Sam curiously.   
  
"Sam, what are you thinking about?" Suddenly as her memory served about their last conversation she followed up with "Should I rephrase with who are you thinking about?" She said with a devilish grin.  
  
"Actually Mom, I was thinking how I used to come here all the time to pick up Lara. She treated me like shit Mom. Why did I stay with her for so long?" Gail looked at her son sympathetically. She could see that he currently wasn't happy about this.   
  
"Honey, you stayed with her because you are an extremely kind person who believes that everyone deserves a chance. Which is true. Unfortunately after awhile, you were with her so long that you no longer were giving her a chance, but you felt that you owed it to her to work things out because you had been together for so long. Am I right?" Sam just nodded. " Luckily, a new woman came into your life and opened your eyes to the possibiliy of new and happier love overall. Which brings me to what I want to talk about."  
  
"Don't worry mom, we'll talk all about her. We'll talk about whatever you want. I am yours for the next four days so whatever you want to do."  
  
After that Sam and Gail went back to his apartment where Sam made up the couch (for himself of course) Unfortunately Gail insisted that he take his bed and she take the couch considering she was the visitor and it was his home. Sam made them both a cup of coffee and brought them into the livingroom for the two of them.   
  
"So any new developments since I talked to you last?"  
  
"Yes! She is the sweetest, kindest person I have ever met. When I'm with her, I just feel overjoyed. She always puts in an effort to make others feel better about themselves and she's selfless and considerated of everyone. We were at seniors nite and I went with her on the ferris wheel which got stuck at the top."   
  
"Oh that's harsh, you must have really flipped your lid."  
  
"That's just the thing Mom, I didn't even notice."  
  
"WHAT!?!?!?!?!?!??!?!?!?"  
  
"I was so wrapped up in staring at her. But the thing is she did notice, and she knew about my fear of heights and deliberately tried to distract me. Unlike Lara who would have told me immediately, just to see me squirm. She brought up some schoolwork and asked for my advice. That way I would be wrapped up in talking that there would be no way that I could notice. The weirdest part about it was I basically fell at her feet. I was making googly eyes at her all night and she didn't notice at all. Didn't look at me funny or say anything she just kept going on in her wonderful ways..." He finished dreamily.   
  
"Alright that settles it. When is the soonest that I can meet her?"  
  
"Ha ha Mom. It's not that easy. But I would love for you to meet her. You would definitely approve."  
  
"I don't know Sam, no one is good enough for my boy."  
  
"That's where you're wrong. I am not good enough for her. She's like a goddess who was sent down from heaven to make everyone's life better." Sam said smiling to himself.   
  
"Ha ha ha! Oh my god Sam! I have NEVER heard you talk like this before. I mean don't get me wrong, I know you were exaggerating. PLEASE CAN I MEET HER? Isn't there any way?"  
  
" Well, there is the teacher/student game happening but unfortunately you're flight is the next day so you could do rush packing later and then come to the game."   
  
"Well then I guess that's what I'm gonna do."  
  
******  
  
Meanwhile Josie was busy making shopping plans with her new "friends" She couldn't help but be mesmerized at their endless fashion knowledge. She rarely said anything about specific clothes because she knew that what she knew about it was nothing in comparison. She felt a little put down when Gus hung up on her about her clothes idea. Oh well. She was suddenly distracted when she was surrounded by the trio from every direction. Josie had to laugh at how stupid they all looked in matching cardigans. But overall the day was going great until they ran into David and Aldys on the escalators.   
  
"Oh look! Like there goes another lemming!"   
  
Shot down. Her giddy high was instantly replaced by horrible, horrible guilt. Josie couldn't help but feel bad but she knew there was nothing she could do about it. She just hoped that once the assignment was over and Josie had a chance to explain that Aldys would forgive her. For now, Josie had to focus on her assignment and unfortunately forget about Aldys for the time being. It was terrible but true. 


	6. Grocery Store Antics. GUESS who run into...

Love Isn't Easy Part 6  
  
Game Time. Everyone was excited ball players or not, the teachers against the students was a big event at South Glen South. Ball Players loved the thrill of the game. Prom enthusiasts loved anthing fund raising and people in general just love good entertainment. Thursday of the week and nobody could seem to talk about anything other than basball of prom. Sam found himself to be looking forward to baseball more than prom. The heat and thrill of the game...Watching Josie play.... At first he was beside himself with curiousity but then he overheard that new guy Rob saying that Josie was:  
  
"The best ball player he'd ever seen. Her arm was faster than anyone else."  
  
'Ok Sam, The game is at 5:30 that'll come by quickly. Just get through the day and you'll be fine.' He was lucky, he didn't have Senior Lit today so that obstacle was taken care of. And the rest were just freshmen and sophomores. Originally this had become his least favourite day. Not seeing Josie all day was slowly ripping his longing heart right out of his chest but today he felt greatful for being able to concentrate without the huge distraction she posed.   
  
Josie walked through the halls totally excited about the game as well...although she would never let Rob know it. He practically wrote her name on the sign-up sheet for her. Oh well. He was right. She loved the game and couldn't wait. After school she was going back to her parents and she and her mom were going grocery shopping. An odd choice of activity she was aware but recently she had been so busy that she was happy to get any time in.   
  
"Mom?....Hello? Anybody home?"  
  
"Oh Josie! You're here early! What a nice surprise!"  
  
"Mr. Coulson seemed kind of stressed out today and so decided to let everyone out early. I was actually grateful because as you know I have that game at 5:30 so I don't have hours to spend at the grocery store. Did you make up the list? When is that party you're throwing? I can't remember."  
  
"Actually hon, the party isn't for another month. So I don't have to shop for that for another3 and a half weeks but I DO have to get the regular stuff. Just let me grab the list and we'll go."  
  
Meanwhile not too far away.....  
  
Sam walked throught the door to his apartment to find his mom standing there jacket, shoes and purse.  
  
"Sam, How do you live here? There isn't a scrap of food in the place?"  
  
"Actually Mom, food has been the last thing on my mind recently-"  
  
"Too bad." She grabbed him by the wrist and started pulling him out the door before he had a chance to resist. "We're going to the store and we are getting you some REAL food."  
  
*****  
  
Josie and her mother were standing in the same aisle about 20 feet apart when Janet yells out  
  
"Hey Josie! What kind of toothpaste? Peppermint or Gel?"   
  
Josie, now cringing in embarrassment comes up to her and says "I don't know, I'm not the one who's going to be using it so you should make the decision." Janet Geller looked at the tubes and threw the peppermint one into the buggy. The two women walked down and up each aisle getting everything on the list when they came to the fresh produce section. They were standing next to the apples choosing out the best ones when all of a sudden Josie hears a familiar voice coming from the next aisle over. "Hey mom, You forget, I DON'T know how to cook, why are you getting flour?" Josie suddenly became very wary and self-conscious but decided that she was unwilling to show this side to her mother so instead she turned to her mother and said ."Didn't you say that you needed green peppers?"   
  
Now it was Sam's turn to become flustered.   
  
He on the other hand wasn't able to remain as calm. He dropped the food he was holding into the buggy his mother was pushing about 5 feet away from him, closed his eyes and took a deep breath. None of this was lost on Gail Coulson though.   
  
"Sam, what's the matter with you? You look like you're having a panic attack. Sam? Sam, are you okay?" She was starting to get worried.   
  
Sam removed his hands from his forehead and looked at his mother. Very bluntly he said "Josie Geller is in the next aisle over."   
  
A huge smile wiped over Gail's face. "Oh Yay! My son is in love with a woman and I get a chance to meet her here and now! What are the odds!?!?"   
  
"NO! Mom, I don't want to talk to her. I am going to make a fool of myself."   
  
"No you won't honey. Just remain calm, slyly move into the next aisle and say Oh Hi Josie! Are you shopping for groceries?'" She said, mimicking him as best she could and then following up by laughing at her own joke.   
  
"Very funny Mom." But then he switched to talking to himself. "Ok, just stay calm, say hello and finish with your business......Ok Mom, let's go."  
  
Gail and Sam then turned the corner and unfortunately wasn't ready to be so close to Josie so soon. There she was not 6 feet away from him looking at the cans on the wall. What he didn't know was that Josie was preparing for also turning the corner to "accidentally run into him"   
  
"Whoa! You startled me... Hi Mr. Coulson." She said smiling nervously to herself. She noticed that he was with another woman right away but after looking at her and judging her age, she guessed that she was his mother. Sam looked at Josie.  
  
"Hey Jo-...." Words were gone. Sam had lost himself in her beautiful green eyes. Meanwhile, Gail who was standing behind Sam started laughing heartedly to herself at the absurdity in her son's behaviour. Janet who had managed to come up to see who these people were, witnessed every moment of this exchange and too had to chuckle under her breath. The intense feelings between Sam and Josie were as clear as day to her. The one part she couldn't figure out was how neither of them picked it up. All the while Josie looked at Sam who was staring at her and she automatically assumed the worst.  
  
"What? What is it?...Oh god." She turned to her mom "Do I have something on my face?"   
  
Now, Janet was busting a gut laughing so hard. She did manage to answer Josie by saying "no". How did she not see this? This man was clearly attracted to Josie but as her mother knew, because of an unfortunate High School ultimate humiliation, Josie refused to believe that any man could want her. Finally Sam managed to get a hold of himself.  
  
"So Josie, are you excited about the game today? I can see you're dressed for it." He said pointing at her ensemble. Gail rolled her eyes. He may as well have just plain told her that he checked her out. That would definitely save a lot from this beating around the bush crap. Luckily, Josie didn't seem to pick up on that. Which Gail found peculiar. Any girl in this position would see that Sam was attracted to them and this conversation would actually get somewhere.   
  
Josie looked at her clothes. She was wearing loose-fitting black capri pants and a baseball style t-shirt. Her hair were in little braids. And she was wearing NO make-up. She felt a little bad because she didn't want Sam to look at her when she was at her utmost ugliest. What she didn't know was that Sam was convinced that she was the most beautiful woman in the world.  
  
"Yeah I am, and so are you." She said pointing at his track pants and white t-shirt.   
  
Gail and Janet were watching this intently but then Gail switched her gaze over to Janet who decided to take things down a different road.   
  
"Hi I'm Gail, Sam's mother." She said holding out her hand. Janet took it. "Hi, I'm Janet, Josie's mother!" She said laughing a little. They looked over at their children who were so wrapped up in their conversation that they didn't even notice the little greeting. Gail finally spoke up.  
  
"Do you want to go over there and talk?" She said pointing at the vegetables. Janet nodded and they walked over.   
  
Quite a few minutes passed before either of them said anything. Gail, who now was bursting to say what she was thinking tried to get it out of Janet so that she wouldn't end up incriminating her son. She started by pointing at their children who were still completely wrapped up in their own conversation.   
  
"Wow, I think that our children really get along well."  
  
Janet started. "You wanna know what I think?" Now she had Gail's attention. She just nodded eagerly.   
  
"Well, I may be jumping the gun a little here, but I think our children have feelings for each other.-"   
  
"YES!!" Gail interrupted, ecstatic that she saw it too. " It's so obvious! I'm in complete shock that neither of them noticed it. Like that Josie didn't realize what was going on when Sam was staring at her with complete adoration."  
  
"Yes! And when Sam didn't notice Josie staring up at him with her puppy eyes. I was killing myself laughing so hard."   
  
The two different groups of people were talking and talking and talking when Josie heard on the radio in the faint background say "Alright listeners It's a quarter past 5 and we've got some great hits in store for you!" She looked at Sam in complete panic.  
  
"What? What's wrong?"  
  
"Didn't you hear? It's a quarter past 5! We are going to be REALLY late for the game if we don't leave RIGHT now." Sam looked at his watch and they both ran over to their mothers.   
  
"What's wrong with you two? Is there a bomb threat over by the apples?" Janet said.  
  
"Mom, I totally lost track of time and me and Mr. Coulson are going to be late for the game!"  
  
"Ok calm down, don't panic. Here, take your car and drive the two of you over."   
  
"Well then how are you going to bring all the groceries home?"  
  
Now Gail took her turn "I'll drive both of us home, I'll put my groceries in the trunk and yours in the back seat."  
  
"Are you sure?" Sam said. Gail responded "Yeah, you guys go! We'll be fine."  
  
And off they went. 


	7. Getting to the Game

Love Isn't Easy Part 7  
  
  
  
  
"Ah. Gail....you can't help but love that our children were so wrapped up in their discussion that they forgot all about this baseball game."  
  
Gail Coulson looked at Janet in complete agreement. "AND! Sam hasn't shut up about it all week 'The game this and the game that!' It started to get funny after awhile."  
  
"Josie was the same............We are going to go watch them play right?"   
  
"Oh Course."  
  
********  
  
Sam and Josie reached the parking lot at a furious rate. Both eager to get to the game, mostly to watch the other one play but they wouldn't dare mention that aloud. Josie slid on the hood of her car to the driver's seat and Sam couldn't help but be totally impressed. Never in his whole life did he ever see anyone do that maneuver successfully. He waited while Josie unlocked the door and he climbed in as well. Josie started the ignition and they drove off. The drive to the school was a little under ten minutes so if they really rushed, they could probably make it. Josie just thanked her lucky stars - and her neurotic organizational skills - that she had changed into the appropriate clothes ahead of time.   
  
Sam on the other hand was far beyond the rational thinking that Josie was at and was now worrying about how to fill the silence in the car. A mistake on his part due to the fact that because of their rush the silence was explained and therefore not awkward. A realization that Sam would fail to discover.   
  
"So....uh........ Josie, you excited for the game?"  
  
Josie looked at him a little confused. "You've already asked me that."  
  
"I have? Oh, I'm sorry. I don't know where my head's at today." Oh shit. That's embarrassing. She must see right through him.   
  
"Oh, Don't worry about it Mr. Coulson, you must just be nervous about the game because you know you're gonna lose!" She said in a jokingly competitive manner.   
  
"That's what you think!" Sam replied and started to quietly laugh. No matter where they were, he always had fun with Josie. He couldn't wait for the game.   
  
For the rest of the car ride, Sam and Josie laughed and discussed all the different ways that their own team would beat the other. When they arrived at the stadium, Rob was in the parking lot looking frantic.   
  
"Rob! What is wrong with you? You look like you're gonna bust a gut from worrying."  
  
"Josie! When they say the game starts at 5:30, I thought you realized that you are supposed to come EARLIER!!! NOT AT 5:30!!!!!"  
  
"Geez, Rob! Calm down! Me and mum were grocery shopping, so really you should thank me. The cupboards at home are stocked full of junk food, all your favorite kinds."  
  
"Ok...um, that's true, when mom goes.....she gets healthy food. Who eats that for snacks? And why did you and Sam come together?....never mind. No time. Good thing your already dressed. Now go over to the box, you aren't up to bat first. Sara is."  
  
"Ok. Me and mom ran into Sam and his mom at the store, we lost track of time, the moms are bringing groceries home in their car while we took MY car."  
  
"Aaaaah.......so you lost track of time huh? Doing what?" Rob said smiling devilishly. And in return got a slap in the arm which from Josie hurt quite a bit.   
  
"OW! Alright! I get it. Can we go play now? I'm getting anxious."  
  
Josie just laughed and the two of them walked over to the dugout.   
  
"ALRIGHT!! LET'S PLAY BALL!" 


	8. The Big Game

Short Story 8  
  
Students up to bat first. Sara wasn't very good at playing baseball and everyone knew it. She was nervous, the pitcher was a long way away and she was holding the bat wrong...although she didn't know that part. Josie just sat in the bench not really paying attention to the game. Baseball was nothing new. She knew this game like the back of her hand. Better even. She couldn't seem to concentrate on anything other than the second baseman. The good looking 6'2'' blond with a handsome face and sporty build just standing there anticipating the hit. He was such an amazing man. Josie felt as if she could stare at him all day long but she knew that wouldn't be such a good idea if she intended to keep her job....and her dignity.   
  
"Strike 3! YER OUT!" Sara sheepishly walked back to the bench and Coach "Rob" yelled for the next batter up. As Guy walked to the plate Rob leaned over to Josie.  
  
"Hey Jos. I'm putting you up next after Guy, okay?"  
  
"WHAT!?!?!? Why? Rob!"  
  
"Yeesh....Calm...Josie...I just think it'll help you a lot because judging from Guy's stance up there, I would say he's not quite sure what he's doing."  
  
"So...you think that he's gonna hit badly and if I go right after him and wow the crowd with my super-skills they'll consider me cool?"  
  
Rob looked up at his sister in amazement. "Exactly! Wow. We're finally thinking on the same track!"  
  
"You forgot one thing Rob."  
  
"What's that Jos?"  
  
"I SUCK AT BAT!!!"  
  
He couldn't believe it. Rob had no idea how Josie managed to have absolutely no self-confidence in everything she did. Had Billy Prinze really screwed her up that much?  
  
"Josie. You are the best batter on this entire field and you know it."  
  
"No I don't! You never know! Some of the teachers could be better than me!"  
  
"True....but once they get their turn they'll prove me right. But will you at least agree to saying that you're the best baseball player of the students here?"  
  
"Alright..fine-"  
  
"Aah. There's my girl."  
  
The two siblings sat next to each other until they both stood in shock that Guy got onto second base on his second swing at the ball. Now their plan had gone out the window and they didn't know quite what to do.   
  
"Alright. Josie. New plan. Hit the ball really hard and run both you and Guy home."  
  
Josie just gave Rob a look that quite clearly showed that she thought it was unlikely.  
  
She could do this.   
  
She had done it hundreds of times before. So simple. Bat makes contact with ball. Ball goes far, batter runs to base. Simple simple simple.   
  
She was ready. She looked up to the pitcher. Inevitably, Josie's eyes drifted to the handsome baseman standing behind the pitcher.   
  
"Stee-rike 1!"   
  
Shit! Shit! SHIT! She had allowed herself to get distracted by Mr. Coulson and it was affecting her game. Nothing affected her game. She wouldn't allow it. Throughout her life, Josie discovered the secret to success. FOCUS. Focus on the ball Josie, focus on the ball and you'll do just fine.   
  
The pitcher was getting ready for round 2. Josie got into position looked at the pitchers hand. And was totally ready. Roundup, release........and.....  
  
A HIT!!! A good one too. Josie managed to get it was into the furthest part of outfield and Sam couldn't help but be amazed. He was so completely blown away he didn't even notice Josie coming at him until she whizzed on by. He fumbled up the catch causing Josie to make it home.  
  
"Hah! Josie, I knew you could do it! You're my rock!" Rob said jumping up and down with joy. Josie had to admit that she was pretty proud of herself as well. She had worked really hard to become an accomplished baseball player and now she was. Meanwhile Sam stood there, speechless. The woman he had fallen totally in love with knew how to play baseball! She was a good player too! God, this was going to be a very hard week. Sam was grateful that the prom was on Saturday and Graduation was next Wednesday. Just 6 more days that he would have to put every ounce of his energy into controlling this powerful urge he kept having to grab Josie and kiss her senseless. God how he wanted to do that.  
  
"Hey Sam, who'd a thunk it? That Josie girl is excellent! Almost as good as Rob! Not quite though, that kid had a passion for the game unlike anyone else."  
  
Scott Romano had come to Sam's side and was completely oblivious to Sam's longing gaze at the benches. Luckily he pulled himself out of it before Scott could notice there was something weird going on.  
  
"Yeah, but Josie! I mean she obviously wasn't paying attention but then, wow! Right to the back! One more metre and it would have been a homer!" Sam said, sounding more enthused than he had intended.   
  
This time, Scott caught Sam. "It was a homer, Sam."  
  
Sam, realizing his blunder, decided to try and get the topic off of Josie and on to something else. Talking about Josie was just getting far too dangerous.   
  
"Yeah, only because I screwed up! Had I caught that ball, she would have only made it to 3rd." Sam said, sounding beaten. He was disappointed with himself but that feeling didn't hold a light to the joy he felt just being near Josie. Seeing her beautiful face, hearing her beautiful voice....  
  
"Look Sam, don't worry about it. We're only down by 1. We still have 9 innings to kick their butts!" Sam had to laugh at his friend's determination. Scott, too, had a passionate love of baseball. Every game was life and death with him.  
  
The next 2 students both struck out causing the 2 teams to switch it up. Josie got up and started to walk outfield when she felt a hand on her shoulder.  
  
"Where do you think you're going? You're catcher remember?" Rob said, partly knowing what Josie was trying to do.   
  
At this point, Sam had come in from outfield and couldn't help eavesdropping on her conversation.  
  
Josie just spun around and looked at her brother in the eye. "Rob! I'm no good at catcher!"  
  
Rob just looked at her in mock disgust. "That's a damn lie and you know it, Jos!"  
  
"Fine." Josie said and went to put her gear on. Sam left as well. He loved listening to Josie and Rob talk, everyone of their conversations were highly entertaining, Josie with her vast knowledge of words, Rob with his constant humor and both of thier wit. Also, Sam didn't feel that Rob was a threat to him. He wasn't quite sure why though. The one thing Sam couldn't figure out was why Josie had absolutely no faith in herself. It wasn't something new either, Sam had seen it in her before, especially with her writing. It was bewildering especially because Josie was so exceptional with everything she did. Once Sam was on the bench, Janet and Gail moved to the seats behind him.   
  
"Sam!"  
  
At the sound of his name, Sam quickly turned around to see who was trying to get his attention.  
  
"Oh, hi Mom, Mrs. Geller. D'you sort the food out okay?"  
  
"Oh, yes Sam. Not a problem at all. And please, call me Janet." Josie's mom said.  
  
Sam started to feel more at ease, he was very wound up on account of Josie.   
  
"Alright thanks, I will...Hey, how long have you been here? Did you see Josie's home run?" Sam said, starting to get more excited. He liked to see Josie succeed.  
  
Gail rolled her eyes.It seemed that he couldn't get his mind off of the blonde that had come into his life so suddenly. Janet, seeing that Gail was deep in thought decided to respond to Sam.   
  
"Yeah, we've been here almost the whole time, we were roughly 5 minutes late. Josie did have an excellent hit. I'm not surprised though. She's always been good at baseball."  
  
"I can tell. It's just a shame that Josie doesn't believe it." Same replied. Gail scolded her son for stepping out of line so shamelessly but Janet interrupted her.  
  
"No, it's alright Gail. Sam's right. Josie doesn't have enough faith in herself. I've tried very hard to instill some self-confidence in her but to no avail. She's been badly hurt and it's taken her a long time to get over it, unfortunately."  
  
"Oh, I don't know why anyone would ever want to hurt Josie, Mrs. Geller. She's such an amazing woman...GIRL! I mean girl."  
  
Sam and the mothers continued to talk until he was called back into duty. Meanwhile the mothers were enthralled as they watched the unavoidable chemistry blooming between their two children, so much so, that they hardly payed attention to the game at all.   
  
END OF PART 8 


	9. Sam's Jealousy rises as Pressure for a s...

Love Isn't Easy Part 9  
  
The game was over. Students won by just barely inching over the tie-line. Sam had to admit that it was a slight disappointment that the teachers lost. Sam had gotten revved up for a game he somewhat expected to win. His disappointment, however, was quickly replaced when he saw Josie leaving the field, arm in arm with Rob and a big smile across her face. She was happy, and he loved to see her happy. Sometimes, when he saw her in class she seemed to have a worried expression which made him curious. He knew that her personal life was absolutely none of his business but, still, he was dying to get inside her head. To see what was making Josie have no faith in herself. To see what was making her sad.   
  
At that point, Guy and a few of his friends approached Josie and Rob.   
  
"Hey Guys, great game! Rob, you are THE best coach. Man! I really would have screwed up in there without you yelling at me! And Josie, yeesh! WHAT a hit! Right over Mr. Coulson's head!" Guy Perkins started, he was always the one who initiated conversations. He wasn't too fond of that but knowing that everyone else was just following him, he felt he had a position to withold. {-correct spelling?}   
  
Josie, meanwhile tensing up at Mr. Coulson's name could only manage to nod in thanks. Immediately after, Rob kicked her calf, telling her that she was NOT going to retreat into herself as she so frequently did.   
  
"So, Jos...you gonna come to this party? Sounds like it's gonna be great!" asked Guy.  
  
That's when it finally hit Josie. She was accepted. *popular*. She had friends that were cool.....  
  
"Yeah! It sounds like it'll be very thrilling!" Josie said, immediately regretting her choice of words.  
  
"Well, I don't know about THRILLING...but it sure will be FUN...." Guy joked around with her, already having figured out her amazing use of words.   
  
"Yeah, I'm looking forward to it, where is it anyway?" Josie asked.  
  
"It's at Rob's house." Gibby cheerfully chimed in. Josie, meanwhile started to panic. ROB'S HOUSE?!?!?!? Was he CRAZY???? These teenagers would destroy it! Unfortunately, Josie had not remained subtle in her panic.  
  
"Geez Josie, what the hell's wrong with you?" Rob asked, in no way sparing her dignity.  
  
"Well....um....don't you remember Rob? Ou-..Your parents HATE when you have huge parties." Josie replied. Feeling more at ease seeing that she managed to satisfy everyone's curiosity.  
  
"Oh, Josie...Don't worry, I'm gonna clean everything up....My Mom and Dad aren't gonna know the difference."  
  
Josie just nodded in response. Rob had said that she should trust him, so she would. She believed in him enough trust the fact that he said he knew what he was doing...even if it sounded crazy.  
  
Eventually, the group dissipated and they went their separate ways. Josie went to the office, for her meeting feeling totally great about herself.   
  
As she bounced in through the office, Sheila cautiously approached her.  
  
"Uh, Josie...splendiforous?" Sheila, expecting a correct spelling was blown away by Josie's unusual response.   
  
"Totally!" Josie knew that she was acting completely out of character but it didn't bother her. She was in an excellent mood and wanted to stay that way. Unfortunately, in the meeting, she was quickly and abruptly pulled back into the reality that she is not a teenaged student but a 25 year old reported when her boss gave her a 2-week deadline for a story otherwise she AND Guss would be fired.   
  
That was it. The end of her fun. Now was time. Time to shape up or ship out. HOW was she possibly going to find a story in time? Her good mood was completely ruined and thoughts of popularity were quickly overrun by thoughts of how she was going to keep her job.   
  
After work, she went home. Home to her house and her turtles. A constant reminder that she had no one to share her life with. Just one more thing to add to her newfound misery. For the party, Josie decided to put on a loose-fitting v-neck shirt and her fitting jeans. She finished her make-up and off she went.   
  
"Hey Josie! Glad you're here!" Rob greeted her warmly as she approached her former home. Also, to Josie's surprise, the 3 girls greeted Josie as one of their own. Josie thought that that was what she wanted. To be popular and fit in. But now she realized that this wasn't real. They didn't REALLY know her. All they knew was that Rob told them to like her so now they do. But she decided to not let it bother her. She would enjoy popularity while she had it.   
  
"Hey girls! How long have you been here?"  
  
"About 20 minutes..Josie you've gotta come shopping with us tomorrow! We're gonna go to the mall and pick out some cool stuff!" Cried Kirsten.  
  
"Okay! Sounds great!" Josie said, unable to contain her laughter. They sounded so uneducated when they spoke.  
  
The rest of the party went really well, Josie sparked up conversations with lots of different people and felt like her shyness was disappearing ever so quickly. When she wandered into the kitchen only to discover that Rob was taking Tracy to the prom. She made sure that Rob knew that she didn't approve.  
  
"Hey." Guy. RIGHT behind her.   
  
"Hi!" Josie giggled.  
  
"Um..I need to talk to you."  
  
"I'll see you around the cell block Mrs. Robinson!" Joked Rob. Josie flashed him a look to show that she was not amused.   
  
To Josie's complete and utter shock Guy Perkins asked her to prom! She actually had a date. A REAL date! Josie knew that this was a breakthrough in her life. And for once it wasn't career-wise. This was a turning point and nothing was going to take away from Josie's joy. The fact that it wasn't the right guy was a slight problem but she knew everything would work itself out in due course.   
  
*************  
  
The next day Sam Coulson had arranged his day perfectly.   
  
10:00a.m. - Drop Mom off at airport. Assure her that Josie will find out about his feelings for her.  
  
11:00a.m. - Leave Airport. Go home, Re-arrange desk as a way of keeping busy   
  
1:00p.m. - Meet Jon, Jo, and Matt for Lunch at food court in mall.   
  
4:00p.m. - Pick up tux for prom tomorrow.  
  
6:00p.m. - Go home and panic about prom, speech, Josie, job, life.  
  
The hard part was going through it.   
  
"Alright Sam, I'm going to go into my terminal now but before I do, I want you to listen to me very carefully. Take my advice. Tell Josie how you feel. You clearly love her a lot and life is just too damn short to waste on 'what ifs'"   
  
"Alright, I'll find a way. Bye Mom. Call me when you get there."  
  
And she left. Sam headed off to the mall not in the mood for anything. He felt like he was in a rut. No more work to correct. No more Lara to worry about. And there was absolutely nothing he could do about Josie. He would just have to wait that out. See how things happened. He had learned the hard way that planning ahead of time was a big mistake. He just sounded like a blundering idiot and that probably wasn't the best way to win Josie's heart.   
  
"Mr. Coulson!" Sam spun around shocked to find Josie standing right in front of him.  
  
"Josie! Hey! What are you doing here?"  
  
"I'm supposed to meet Kirsten, Kristen and Gibby and we're gonna shop around."   
  
"Of course, I'm so stupid, what else would you do in a mall?" Sam said sarcastically.   
  
"Actually, there's lots of stuff that I could have been doing. Like eating, or I might have been going to that dentist on the first floor. Or going to a movie! For example. See, you WERE right to ask."   
  
Wow. Josie was the most amazing woman in the entire world. She would always go to the extra trouble to make the people around her feel comfortable and at ease. It was so easy to talk to Josie. It also didn't hurt that she was so drop dead gorgeous.  
  
"Oh. Thanks Josie. You're a wonderful person." Was all Sam could manage to say without giving away that he was completely in love with her.   
  
"Actually, I'm a little scared. I'm not the best marathon shopper. Back in high-...um, I mean at my OLD high school, my friends would go to the mall and spend ALL DAY there. I mean how do you do that? Shop for so long? I just can't do it. I go to the stores that I know I like, I spend 10 minutes there and I'm out of the mall in one hour flat. Do you know if these girls are crazy shoppers, Mr. Coulson?"   
  
Once she was finished, Josie realized that she had been rambling and immediately regretted it. She always did that. When she was nervous she would talk non-stop and giggle a lot. Josie really wouldn't be too surprised if Sam knew about her undeniable love for him.  
  
"Well, judging from their, um....for lack of a better word....*VANITY*...and the fact that prom is tomorrow, I would have to say that you're going to be here for a while Jos."   
  
Josie was in heaven. The same place she always was when Sam spoke to her. Not to mention the fact that he spoke to her like a human being, not just another student.  
  
"Well, thanks a lot Sam. For my part now...what are YOU doing here?" Josie asked jokingly.   
  
"I'm meeting my friends for lunch actually. We do it about once a week to discuss the current status of different aspects of our lives."   
  
'God, I'm such a geek.' Sam couldn't help thinking.  
  
"Wow! That's actually a good idea. That way you get free advice for problems."  
  
Sam was relieved to find that Josie wasn't judging him on his nasty habit of telling her the wrong things.  
  
"Actually that's true. Which reminds me! There's something I wanted to tell you-"  
  
"Sam!"  
  
Sam was just about to try and start hinting around the truth of his feelings toward her when he was interrupted by Matt.  
  
There, Matt, Jon and Jo were coming up to Sam and Josie from the escalator.   
  
"Hey Sam! Hmm! And Josie! Looking ravishing as usual."  
  
"Hey Matt, cut it out. Alright?"   
  
Josie's head whipped around at Sam's sudden defensiveness. Why was Sam upset about Josie receiving a compliment? Was it because Matt was one of Sam's friends? Or was it the age thing? Because if that was the case then Sam clearly had a problem with age differences and probably wasn't even looking at her on a romantic level.   
  
"Oh, it's okay Mr. Coulson. Don't worry about me." Then, she turned around to Matt. "Thank you for the compliment. But I must be going, I have to meet my friends." Then, she waved goodbye and went to meet the girls she could see coming from the jewelry store. Josie was starting to get aggravated. She didn't know how much more teenager-life she could handle. She was just counting the hours until prom. At prom, she would find her story, and then she wouldn't have to go to school anymore. Better yet, she wouldn't have to lie anymore.   
  
Meanwhile, Sam just stared at Josie as she walked away. A little baffled as to why she left so quickly. Was it perhaps his quickness to defend her, against a COMPLIMENT?!?!? He had to admit that it was quite possible that she had misinterpreted what he meant by that. He was just so shocked at how quickly it came out. Sam just couldn't accept the idea that Josie might actually date someone other than him.   
  
To be continued.....soon! I promise! 


End file.
